Covid-19, Tourist Destinations and Prospects for Recovery: Volume Three: A South African and Zimbabwean Perspective

There has been a segmented approach to documenting the impact of COVID-19 and recovery prospects for global tourism destinations. Until this volume, though, there has not been comprehensive, concentrated efforts to take a deep-dive look into two countries’ tourism destinations in order to provide a comparative perspective. This book fills this gap by analyzing tourism impacts and recovery prospects in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. The volume opens with an introductory chapter from the editors that provide context and background. Part I of the volume looks at the impacts of COVID-19 on Zimbabwe and South Africa, Part II focuses on tourism operations during the pandemic, and Part III focuses on tourism recovery initiatives and prospects. The concluding chapter from the editors provides practical and policy implementation. This book is the third and final component of a three-volume set on the impact of COVID-19 on destination tourism around the world.

Kaitano Dube (PhD University of South Africa) is an Associate Professor of Tourism Geography at the Vaal University of Technology in South Africa. He is currently Faculty of Human Science Research, Innovation and Commercialization Professor (acting) and Ecotourism Management lecturer. He is a South African National Research Foundation Y2 Rated Researcher who has supervised a number of Masters students and hosted 2 Post-Doctoral Fellows. He is an Associate Editor for Cogent Social Sciences (tourism section) and Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism. He is an Editor for Tourism Geographies. His research interests have been in tourism, climate change, aviation and COVID-19. He has co-authored one book and edited five published books and published several book chapters and more than 30 journal articles in high-impact peer-reviewed journals within a short period. He advises several governments and local government institutions on tourism and tourism development within Africa. He is an honorary visiting professor at Chandigarh University, India and a visiting Professor at Emirates Aviation University in Dubai, UAE. Prof Dube is also a tourism curriculum expert who has worked with regional Councils of Higher Education in program evaluation, audits and accreditation.

Olga Laiza Kupika is a Natural Resources Conservationist and Climate Change expert, Associate Professor and currently Chairperson in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe. Olga is a task-oriented, result-focused conservationist with over a decade of experience in research, teaching and community service in the higher and tertiary education sectors. She has experience leading and working with multidisciplinary teams and can communicate with stakeholders and research partners at local, national, regional and international forums. Olga is a former EU-DREAM scholarship recipient, a Climate Impact Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE) Programme and a Climate Research for Development (CR4D) Postdoctoral fellow alumnus, both implemented by the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) through the African Academy of Sciences (AAS). Currently, she is leading the Natural Resources Governance and Institutions (NRGI) petal under the Production and Conservation in Partnerships platform. Olga’s research interests include climate change resilience (adaptation and mitigation), ecosystem resilience, conservation and governance, community-based natural resources management, ecosystem services, sustainable livelihoods, community resilience, and sustainable development goals.

Dr David Chikodzi is a Post-Doctoral research fellow under the Exxaro Chair in Climate and Sustainability Transitions hosted by the Institute for Corporate Citizenship at the University of South Africa. Dr Chikodzi’s main research interests are in water resources management, climate change and dryland livelihoods. He also has interests in GIS and remote sensing applications for societal development and disaster risk reduction.